The *2 multiplier has to stay . Shopkeepers are forced to keep feeding and repairing to make money … if the multiplier is gone then why would you keep shop ?

But other bidders are in the very same position and have to pay full sum. Winning auction is an upfront investment and that doesn't (shouldn't) change for current owner and all other expenses are same for everyone, but under current system owners have unfair advantage. Fair bidding will lead to fair pricing on plots - defending owner cannot put 100mil silver and just pay half of 2nd highest bid and win. Without advantage Owners and other bidders will have to put prices that will still generate some profit (or they hope will generate some profit).

There is no evidence to suggest this. In fact the evidence suggests exactly the opposite. I don't understand what people think is 'fair bidding'. The system is broken, it has been broken since launch but the game is a sandbox and people should be allowed to play how they see fit within that sandbox. The option to take control of multiple plots was there for everyone. The changes will make it better for people wanting to own plots but there is no reason to change things without carefully assessing each step. This will likely be the first of many such small steps.

There will never been a completely fair way of handling land auctions, its like people moaning that in a zerg theres one side winning due to being 4 tiers above the other, or one side with 50+ more people. Simple put being a sandbox and us mostly being humans we will generally always use the method which gives us the best advantage.

Silver/land auctions is the PVP versions of the traders, you can't moan that there's people with 10 billion silver as these players have probably put as much time into the game, as the players with 400/400 on multiple lines of trees who beat other players in gear -2 tiers below. Simple put hard work and time played makes a difference.

You could possibly make it more of a chore to own the buildings however, maybe change up the buildings favorite food on a daily basis so plot owners have to adjust fee's more often. If your lumbermill is eating carrot soup its dirt cheap to run if it jumps to goose pies then suddenly plot owners who are not paying attention will run out of food and wont be able to feed the building as cheaply. But even in this case owners will stockpile stacks of each kind and will probably end up spending less due to waiting for a day a cheaper food is on. I found a way around before I even finished the paragraph sigh.

To break monopolies its paramount to break inequality first. And i mean unfair 2x advantage of current plot owner. You have removed unfair 24 hour defense advantage - good, but thats not enough.
Also situation with current plot owner being the only bidder/defender in blind auction system is not clarified - what happens to their bid at the end of auction?

The 2x advantage actually should not matter that much balance wise. The reason is quite simple: if you acquire the plot having to pay twice as much, you are the new owner - meaning you get the premium back if you get outbid in the next cycle.

The way to see it is this: The bid consists of two parts: 50% is for "ownership", 50% is for rent. If you already own the plot, you'll only have to cover the 50% rent (hence the 2x bid advantage). If you don't own the plot, you pay 50% to the current owner and cover the rent with the remaining 50%. But you are then the owner, hence you'll get a payout for the ownership part if you ever get outbid in the future.

Make owning guild islands with the cites a bit more equal with the city with something closer to the 15% benefit and make them decay and require upkeep as well. Keep player islands with free maintenance but with no additional benefit. Alliances can be used to cover the various cities.

I sort of think islands are humorous as they are laborer houses mostly. Almost as sad as the unused houses in cities.

+15% is just too much difference, granted with focus that can be less of a difference, but focus is used up very fast.

Too much power in too few hands is this games problem. While a sandbox it will become a ghost town if most the players don't think they have a shot.

The 2x advantage actually should not matter that much balance wise. The reason is quite simple: if you acquire the plot having to pay twice as much, you are the new owner - meaning you get the premium back if you get outbid in the next cycle.

The way to see it is this: The bid consists of two parts: 50% is for "ownership", 50% is for rent. If you already own the plot, you'll only have to cover the 50% rent (hence the 2x bid advantage). If you don't own the plot, you pay 50% to the current owner and cover the rent with the remaining 50%. But you are then the owner, hence you'll get a payout for the ownership part if you ever get outbid in the future.

But that makes no sense. Bidders should expect to profit the month they won the plot and not "next cycle where they get premium"... Why even implement convoluted and confusing system when simple and fair one would have worked (probably)better?

This makes no sense at all as well. They (100%)rent for a month from the city - what about it is "ownership"? All that current system achieves is makes it nearly impossible to win the unfair auction.

The question about edge case: "what happends to the money of current owner is they are the only bidder?" remains dodged/unanswered T_T. If the answer is "everything is returned", then the current system will not achieve its goal to counter monopolies.

As a bonus idea: Maybe remove ability to "resell" plots then only those who are interested in setting up shops will participate in auctions.

Wouldnt it be better to implement a revolt system? Where throught some mechanics, if a large group of players werent happy with the taxes they could try to overtrow the players in charge? Just like in real life, if a country pushes up to 200% people will get mad...

There could be issues with owners trying to sell the plot during the final 24 hours, having lost during the auction.

I don't think it is a big deal. All the information is available to potential buyers, but I suspect there will be some feelsbadman moments when the owner lists the plot for sale for a relatively small amount and the some unsuspecting player buys it.

Could you please delineate the new system? When I read your initial post (above) it eludes to only changes in the system and I am having difficulty in understanding the rules.
Would you please provide and example or the initial rules as I was unable to locate them. If you provide an example please include one for both a property owner and a buyer'
Thanks for all you do...

Below is a breakdown of the changes in detail.Land auctions will use a "blind auction" system, as follows:

During the auction phase of the land auction, the highest winning bid is no longer visible to everyone - instead, bidders can only see their own bids.

24 hours before the end of the auction cycle, bidding ends, and the winning bid and player are visible to all players in the Real Estate UI. At this point, any blocked funds are released and all ingame confirmation messages are sent. (This phase replaces the current "Owners Only" bidding phase.)

The winning bid of the previous auction will remain visible at all times.

Players will no longer receive in-game messages related to changes in the highest bidder during the auction phase.

Question to the administration.
Monopolists play by the rules.
Monopoly is a natural process, otherwise property ownership is not profitable.
Monopoly as a clan or GVG group, only uses the economy as a weapon.

Why do you oppress one group of players (monopolists) in favor of another (noobs)?